纽约男装周元年 男装业新起点
The metrics will determine whether the long-planned New York Fashion Week: Men’s was the success its organizers hoped for. Yet immediate reaction to the first consolidated men’s wear week since 2001 suggested an industry in an unexpectedly buoyant mood.
统计数据将验证经过长期策划的纽约男装周(New York Fashion Week: Men’s)是否会像组织者预期得那么成功。不过，从人们对2001年以来的第一个联合男装周的即时反应看，这个行业正处于意想不到的蓬勃发展状态。
By separating men’s wear from women’s and moving the shows closer on the calendar to a month of similar presentations in Europe, the Council of Fashion Designers of America corrected an imbalanced scheduling sequence that forced editors and buyers to wait until weeks after the shows in London, Paris and Milan to see what American designers had on offer.
通过将男装从女装中剥离开来，并把男装周的时间安排得与欧洲的男装周更接近，美国时装设计师协会(Council of Fashion Designers of America)改变了之前那种不平衡状态——时尚编辑们和买家们曾经不得不在伦敦、巴黎和米兰的男装周结束几周后才能看到美国设计师们的作品。
It also underscored a shift few could have anticipated in the days when the nonprofit Seventh on Sixth folded men’s wear into the distaff presentations held under the Bryant Park tents. That is the runaway growth of men’s wear, driven by generational shifts, a crazily democratized Internet and something else no one predicted: casual Friday’s positive trickle-down effect.
它还突显了另一个变化。当非赢利的Seventh on Sixth（纽约时装周曾经的名字——译注）把男装夹在布莱恩特公园(Bryant Park)帐篷里举办的女装秀中时，几乎没人预料到，男装行业的发展如此迅猛。它的推动力是时代的变迁、互联网民主化的高度普及以及无人料及的另一个情况：休闲星期五的涓滴效应。
“When casual Friday first hit the scene, it got interpreted into a nightmare for most men,” Michael Kors said. “ ‘Wow, you mean I get to look like a total slob?’ The reality is it tumbled down the walls,” Mr. Kors added, making way for “an entrepreneurial global man who is interested in fashion for the weekend, for work clothes, for play clothes.” Fashion is not, Mr. Kors said, just for the dandies and peacocks of the world.
迈克·高仕(Michael Kors)说，“休闲星期五刚出现时，大部分男人觉得它是噩梦：‘哇，你的意思是我得穿得像个邋遢鬼？’ ”他接着说，“事实证明，它打破了界线”，为那些对周末时装、工作正装和运动服装感兴趣的具有企业家精神和国际视野的男人们”开辟了道路。高仕说，时装不只是为那些爱打扮、爱炫耀的人设计的。
In the decades since the term “metrosexual” was coined, the perception of fashion as a preoccupation of a well-shod and moisturized elite has been supplanted by an influx of mainstream lugs. For the last five years, sales of men’s wear have grown faster than women’s, with the result that every major fashion house has broadened its masculine offerings, most rushing to open flagships dedicated to the newest shopping obsessive — men.
在“都会美型男”(metrosexual)这个词被造出来后的几十年里，时装不再被认为是专属于那些穿着精致、注意护肤的精英男士，而被认为是属于普通男士。在过去五年里，男装的销售额超过了女装，所以大型时装公司都增加了男装供应，大都急忙开设专门服务男性的旗舰店——因为他们才是最新的购物狂。
Seen in that light, a week that returned major American labels like John Varvatos to home turf took on a lot more than symbolic import. “What legitimized the week was having someone like John Varvatos come back and put his money where his mouth is,” the designer Todd Snyder said. “It put a stake in the ground.”
在这种情况下，约翰·瓦维托斯(John Varvatos)等美国著名品牌在本土举办时装秀表明，纽约男装周不只是象征性地引进。“纽约男装周正统地位的确立在于约翰·瓦维托斯这样的人物回归，把钱花在自己嘴边，”设计师托德·斯奈德(Todd Snyder)说，“这相当于打地基。”
Although other American designers and labels — Calvin Klein, Thom Browne — that typically show in Europe contented themselves here with presentations, rather than full-fledged fashion shows, Mr. Varvatos mounted a runway blowout with all the attendant hoopla, crowd scenes and star athletes who are fashion’s most devoted hangers-on.
虽然卡尔文·克莱恩(Calvin Klein)和汤姆·布朗(Thom Browne)等通常在欧洲举办时装秀的其他一些美国设计师和品牌满足于仅在纽约举办发布会，而不是举办盛大的时装秀，但是瓦维托斯的时装秀声势浩大——参与者的兴奋，拥挤的人群，还有到场的体育明星（他们是时尚最忠诚的追随者），样样不缺。
“It also says a lot that the European press and buyers came,” said Matthew Marden, the Details magazine fashion director, citing representatives from The Financial Times and foreign editions of GQ and Esquire, as well as buyers from influential British retailers like Harrods and Selfridges. “New York designers are as important as anyone else.”
“很多报道称，欧洲媒体和买家们也来了，”《Details》杂志的时尚总监马修·马登(Matthew Marden)说。他以《金融时报》(The Financial Times)以及《GQ》和《Esquire》外国版的代表们以及哈罗德(Harrods)和塞尔福里奇(Selfridges)等英国著名零售公司的买手们为证。“纽约的设计师和其他设计师一样重要。”
And, while presentations here largely lacked the high theater of some recent shows in Paris, there were still impressive feats of showmanship, like the infinitely mirroring glass box that Thom Browne built for displaying a grouping of gray fingertip-length suits. “Everyone always says London’s avant-garde, Paris is creative, and New York is just commercial,” Mr. Marden said. “But you can’t really say that after you’ve seen Thom Browne or Duckie Brown.”
虽然纽约的发布会大多缺乏前不久在巴黎举办的一些时装秀的强烈戏剧感，但这里也展现出一些令人印象深刻的表演技巧，比如汤姆·布朗为展示一组灰色长款西服而布置的无限反射的玻璃箱。“大家总是说伦敦很前卫，巴黎很有创意，纽约只是商业化，”马登说，“但是如果你看过汤姆·布朗或达基·布朗(Duckie Brown)的时装秀，你就不会那样说了。”
With its distorted volumes, acid palette and unexpected elegance, the Duckie Brown show was by consensus a highlight of the week. Yet it was far from the only evidence that creative spirits both rigorous (Garciavelez) and rumbustious (Boyswear) stand ready to take rightful places alongside industry heavyweights. Just the chance to be seen in proximity to Ralph Lauren or Michael Kors had benefits for independent designers like Jackson McKeehan of Boyswear or Carlos Garciavelez Alfaro of Garciavelez.
晃动的裤腿、耀眼的色彩和意想不到的优雅——达基·布朗的时装秀被公认为本届纽约男装周最精彩的部分。不过，它绝不是严肃的（例如Garciavelez）和喧闹的（例如Boyswear）创意精神能与业内重量级人物平起平坐的唯一证据。对Boyswear的杰克逊·麦基恩(Jackson McKeehan)或Garciavelez的卡洛斯·加西亚维雷·阿尔法罗(Carlos Garciavelez Alfaro)等独立设计师们来说，有机会在拉夫·劳伦(Ralph Lauren)或迈克·高仕附近亮相让他们受益颇深。
“For starting designers like myself, kicking off the week provides a level of attention previously impossible to obtain from buyers, press and on social media platforms,” Mr. Alfaro said. “I already got appointments with Barneys, and a meeting with Saks.”
“对我这种起步期的设计师来说，为本届男装周揭幕让我获得了来自买家、媒体和社交平台的很多关注。这种关注程度是之前难以企及的，”阿尔法罗说，“我已经与巴尼斯百货公司(Barneys)和萨克斯百货公司(Saks)约定会面。”
“The men’s wear market is growing fast, and the week made everything more integrated in terms of the fact that men’s is its own category and its own presence,” he added.
“男装市场正在迅猛发展，纽约男装周把一切整合得更好，表明男装是个独立的门类，有它自己的展示舞台，”他补充说。
For Nick Wooster, the influential stylist, New York Fashion Week: Men’s was a long overdue step taken by an industry that, not atypically, was far from swift in reacting to demographic and social change.
著名造型师尼克·伍斯特(Nick Wooster)认为，纽约男装周是男装业早该举办的活动。这并不奇怪，因为这个行业对客户人群的改变和社会变迁的反应远不够快。
“It was a herculean effort that paid off handsomely in establishing New York as a source for great ideas,” Mr. Wooster wrote in a text message from Shanghai. Still, “It’s always the sophomore album, book, movie or collection that solidifies your reputation,” he added, referring to the next New York men’s wear week, scheduled to begin Jan. 28, 2016. “Now the real work begins.”
“这是一项艰巨的活动，但它回报丰厚，有助于塑造纽约是精彩创意源泉的形象，”伍斯特从上海发来短信说，“一直以来，都是第二年的影集、书籍、电影或服装系列能巩固你的声誉，”他补充说。他指的是计划于2016年1月28日举办的第二届纽约男装周。“现在，真正的功课开始了。”
